1

Educator’s GuideHydrogen and the Environment: The Quest for Alternative Fuels

A project of Montana NSF EPSCoR

The “Hydrogen and the Environment”

Web site reveals how researchers from

Montana State University are studying

the microbes of Yellowstone National

Park to understand how they produce

hydrogen. This guide helps you use

the Web site’s features and activities in

your classroom or informal learning

environment.

2

http://hydrogen.montana.edu

Hydrogen and the Environment: The Quest for Alternative Fuels site map

Home pageOverview of Montana EPSCoR Hydrogen Research [S]

Alternative Fuels

Why Yellowstone?

Researchers Downloads Video

Pros and Cons [I]

How is Hydrogen Produced?

[A]

World Map of Extreme

Environments [I]

Map of Yellowstone

Extremophiles [I]

Panoramas of Yellowstone

extremophiles [I]

Faculty Profiles [T]

Student Profiles [T]

Module downloads

SciZone downloads

[PDF]

Energy’s Future [V]

Origins of Life on Earth [A]

Virus 101 [V]

Are Viruses Alive? [V]

Viruses and the Hydrogen Economy [V]

Protein Cages and Applications [V]

[S] = Slide show; [I] = Interactive; [V] = Video; [A] = Animation; [T] = Text and photos

3

Educator’s Guide

Hydrogen and the Environment: The Quest for Alternative Fuels

http://hydrogen.montana.eduThrough the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR program, scientists at Montana State University are testing microbes from Yellowstone National Park to learn how they produce hydrogen. Researchers want to use the natural process developed by some of the oldest life forms on Earth to create a renewable, clean, and cost-effective energy platform.

The Hydrogen and the Environment Web site outlines information about the scientists’ work and the microbes found in Yellowstone. Visitors can take a virtual visit to Yellowstone, view extremophiles from all over the world, and delve deeper into this research that may have profound impacts on our future.

Renewable energy is an essential topic for middle and high school classrooms. It is a great way to teach basic scientific principles about the generation of electricity and energy conversion from one form to another, but it is also crucial to students’ understanding of future environmental impacts of energy use.

The following guide will help you incorporate the videos, photo slide shows and interactive activities from “Hydrogen and the Environment” into your classroom or informal learning environment. The Web site also includes a link to “Energy’s Future,” a film created by students in MSU’s prestigious Science and Natural History Film-making Program, as well as discussion questions related to the film.

We welcome your feedback or additional suggestions for using this site. Contact mpeters@montana.edu

4

Alternative Fuels Click on the Alternative Fuels link from the home page. At the top of the next page is an interactive graphic listing six types of alternative energy sources: hydrogen, wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass. Students can click on any of the sources to learn some of the pros and cons of that type of energy production.

Learning Objectives

Learn pros and cons of some of the most common types of

alternative energy sources.

Questions for StudentsRead through the pros and cons of the six alter-native energy sources listed on this page. If you were president and had to choose one type of energy to emphasize and invest in for the future, which would it be and why? Do you think it is important to find an alternative to fossil fuels? Why?

Which types of alternative energy sources may have negative effects on the environment? (all of them: hydrogen – currently still need fossil fuel to produce it; wind – can cause bird fatalities, visual and/or sound pollution; solar – manufacturing can produce waste products, solar farms can be visual pollution and cover lots of space which can harm the environment; hydroelectric – creating new dams and power plants can damage ecosystems; hydrothermal – can release dangerous chemicals; biomass – pos-sible deforestation

Click on each energy type to learn pros and cons

5

Alternative Fuels > How Is Hydrogen Produced?

At the bottom of the Alternative Fuels page is a large banner that reads “How Is Hydrogen Produced?” Click on the banner for a short animation illustrating several hydrogen production techniques being used currently.

Learning Objectives

Hydrogen has to be extracted because it is not readily found in its pure form on

Earth.

There are many techniques currently being used to ex-tract hydrogen.

The current tech-niques are prob-lematic because

they are expensive, inefficient, and often

use fossil fuels.

Questions for StudentsWhy does hydrogen have to be extracted? (be-cause pure hydrogen is very rare on Earth)

What technique accounts for 95% of hydrogen extraction in the USA? (steam reforming)

In photobiological production what produces the hydrogen? (algae and bacteria produce hydrogen using sunlight)

What are some of the problems of the current hydrogen extraction methods? (Use fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases, take more energy to make the hydrogen than is produced, expensive, not very efficient)

6

Why Yellowstone? > World Map of Extreme Environments

Click on the Why Yellowstone? link from the home page. On the left is an interactive world map of some of the places where extremophiles are found. Click on any of the map’s red dots to launch a slide show and to get more information about extremophiles in that part of the world.

Learning Objectives

Learn that extremo-philes are found

all over the world in lots of different kinds of environ-

ments — from deep underwater vents, to volcano calderas, to underneath glaciers.

Understand that extremophiles have lots of potential to

help solve problems such as cancer treat-

ment, cleaning up toxic waste, creating alternative energy sources, and more.

Questions for StudentsCheck out some of the extreme environments found around the world. Read the descriptions of the sites and view the slideshows of photos. Which site would you most like to visit? Why?

Why is the Great Salt Lake two different colors? (A railroad causeway that bisects the Lake has resulted in two distinct sections with different water levels, salinity, and organisms.)

What kind of animal was killed by the water of Berkeley Pit? How many of the animals died? (Snow geese, 342)

How many kinds of bacteria did researchers find in black smokers (hydrothermal vents) off the coast of Oregon? What might the bacteria be used for? (37,000. They might be helpful in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer because of their ability to produce natural antibiotics.)

Which place has hot springs called Devil’s Bath and Hell’s Gate? (New Zealand)

How long have the organisms living in the source pool for Blood Falls been living without light or oxygen? (nearly 2 million years)

7

Why Yellowstone? > Map of Yellowstone Extremophiles

This map shows a sampling of the microbes found in Yellowstone National Park. Mousing over the triangles will reveal information about each featured microorganism, including a photo, and the pH and temperature level at which it lives.

Learning Objectives

Understand that there are a wide variety of

microbes that live in Yellowstone

that have very different characteristics.

Questions for StudentsWhich microbe lives in the lowest (most acidic) pH level? (Zygogonium, pH 1-4, stomach acid range to orange juice)

Which microbe was the source material for the process Polymerase Chain Reaction – PCR that allows scientists to make lots of copies of DNA rapidly and cost effectively? (Thermus Aquaticus)

List the colors that the different microbes featured on this map can be. (green, dark purple, black, dark brown, bright red, orange, yellow)

Which microbe can live at the hottest temperature? Name the microbe and the temperature. (Desulfurococcus, 70-95°C, 158-203°F)

8

Why Yellowstone? > Panoramas of Yellowstone Extremophiles

In this section, you will find four panoramic features to explore: Grand Prismatic Spring, Mammoth (2) and Norris. Choose a Yellowstone location, then mouse over the photo to move through a 360-degree view of the area. Click on pink highlighted areas to learn more about the hot springs and microbes that live in them.

Learning Objectives

Learn that there are many different types of thermal

features in Yellowstone that have varying pH

levels, temperatures, and microbial life.

Questions for StudentsWhy do some microbes change color in the summer and winter? (Green nonsulfur bacteria such as Chloroflexus create mats that change color depending on the amount of sunlight. They are usually orange in summer and green in winter because of pigments that act like a sunscreen for them.)

Which feature in the panoramas is the hottest? (Excelsior Geyser, 55.56°C / 199°F, it’s on the Grand Prismatic panorama)

What is the largest hot spring in America? (Grand Prismatic Spring)

TIP: Use the magnifying lens icon to zoom in or out; use the screen icon to increase the image to full screen. Hit escape or click the reduce icon to bring your browser back to normal view.

9

Video > Origins of Life> Virus 101> Are Viruses Alive?> Virus and the Hydrogen Economy> Protein Cages and Viruses

The Video link on the Web site includes several animations and videos, many of which explain viruses and their connection to the quest for alternative fuels.

Questions for StudentsORIGINS OF LIFEWhat is one of main reasons scientist study the past? (To find solutions to current and future problems such as climate change and new energy sources)

Why are scientists who study the origin of life so interested in Yellowstone? (its environment and con-ditions resemble those found on early Earth billions of years ago)

VIRUS 101Why might some viruses be good or helpful to us? (Up to 50% of our genes were once associated with or created by viruses. They are important drivers of evolution and biodiversity.)

ARE VIRUSES ALIVE?Are viruses alive? (Scientists are not sure yet. Right now, most would say no, but there are new discoveries all the time that might change their answer.)

VIRUSES AND THE HYDROGEN ECONOmYHow might viruses be used to produce hydrogen? (Scientists take the insides out of the virus and use the shell as a container. They then put metal clusters like platinum inside them to act as a catalysts to make hydro-gen.)What else can viruses be used for? (medical drug delivery)

Video > Energy’s Future: Empowering Tomorrow This 12-minute video illustrates a high school girl’s search for what she should think about studying in college and what her future career might be. She learns about the research of several Montana college students studying different facets of energy’s future.

Learning Objectives

Learn about the wide range of energy-related research

happening in Montana by college students.

Think about STEM careers as a viable

path.

Learn more about the challenges and breakthroughs of energy-related

research.

Questions for Students1. In this film Joules says that she “doesn’t really know what college is like.” Who could you talk to in order to try to find out more about what going to college is like?

2. In this film Joules says, “I know what it’s like to be a teacher. I’m around them all the time.” What jobs have you had exposure to? What jobs would you like to learn more about?

3. What people or resources are available at your own school to help you go to college?

4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? How could a college education help you realize that goal?

5. Discuss the barriers you see in going to college and then how you could address and move past each of them. Examples include cost, leaving home, not knowing what to study, or a lack of role models.

6. In this film Trevor says, “Most people think sci-entists are like Albert Einstein with crazy hair in a room somewhere trying to think up ideas.” How were the college students in the movie similar to or different from your existing view of scien-tists? What was surprising or unexpected?

7. In this film Trevor says, “I think it’s im-portant that high school students know that there are college students eighteen, nineteen, and twenty years old all across the country doing research on important topics, from curing cancer to solving this energy crisis.” There are opportunities for under-grad, masters, doctoral and post doctoral work in the labs. Using the Internet find a university where scientists are doing research that interests you. What kind of research are they doing? What prob-lems are they trying to solve. Contact them with a question by email or phone, and if they are close to where you live, you could even schedule a visit.

8. How is doing science in college different from studying science in high school?

9. What are some of the topics that scientists study that you think are important? Why?

10. Choosing a college major is no small decision. Write down your strengths, interests, and passions and then research college majors in your area that best match your list.

LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHERSNational Teachers Enhancement Network (NTEN), montana State Universityhttp://eu.montana.edu/nten/profres/

HYDROGEN RESOURCESCalifornia Fuel Cell PartnershipInformation on hydrogen fuel cells such as frequently asked questions and graphics explaining how they work.http://fuelcellpartnership.org/resources/print-materials

Energy Information AdministrationHydrogen information sheet for kidshttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=hydrogen_home-basics

National Energy Education Development project (NEED)Energy infobooks created for primary and secondary students providing content information about each of the nation’s energy resources, new technologies, and the use and conservation of energy.http://www.need.org/EnergyInfobooks.php

U.S. Department of EnergyHydrogen and fuel cells middle school guidehttp://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/education/middle_school.html

mICROBIAL LIFE RESOURCESDigital Learning Center for microbial EcologyMicrobe zoo website for kidshttp://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/dlc-me/zoo/

micro*scopeImages and descriptive information about microbeshttp://starcentral.mbl.edu/microscope/portal.php?pagetitle=index

National Park ServiceAn animated virtual field trip exploring Yellowstone’s microbes with lesson planshttp://www.windowsintowonderland.org/hotcolors/teacherinfo.shtml

Science Education Resource Center at Carleton CollegeMicrobial life educational resourceshttp://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/index.html

Thermal Biology Institute, montana State UniversityResearch, videos, and educational materials about Yellowstone microorganismshttp://tbi.montana.edu/index.html

Yellowstone Research Coordination Network (RCN)The only online database of Yellowstone’s 10,000 thermal featureshttp://www.rcn.montana.edu/

Additional Resources

Visit Hydrogen and the Environment: The Quest for Alternative Fuels at

http://hydrogen.montana.edu